Dicentra plant named &#39;White Gold&#39;

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct form of  Dicentra  plant characterized by soft, golden to yellow green foliage, large white flowers, and excellent vigor.

BOTANICAL DENOMINATION

Dicentra spectabilis (Lamprocapnos spectabilis)

VARIETY DESIGNATION

‘White Gold’

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dicentra spectabilis (Lamprocapnos spectabilis), of the family Papaveraceae, and given the cultivar name, ‘White Gold’. This plant originated as a chance seedling growing in a garden in Middle Grove, N.Y. The discovery was made in spring of 2010. This new cultivar is uniquely characterized by:

1. soft, golden to yellow green foliage,

2. large white flowers, and

3. excellent vigor.

Compared to Dicentra spectabilis ‘Alba’, an unpatented plant, the new cultivar has golden to yellow green leaves rather than green leaves.

Compared to Dicentra spectabilis ‘Gold Heart’, an unpatented plant, the new cultivar has white rather than pink and white flowers.

The new variety has been reproduced only by asexual propagation. Each of the progeny exhibits identical characteristics to the original plant. Asexual propagation by micropropagation as done in Canby, Oreg., shows that the foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true to form and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations. The present invention has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environment without a change in the genotype of the plant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an eighteen-month-old Dicentra ‘White Gold’ in the garden in a two gallon container in early April in Canby, Oreg.

FIG. 2 shows a close up of the same plant.

DETAILED PLANT DESCRIPTION

The following is a detailed description of the new Dicentra cultivar based on observations of eighteen-month-old specimens grown in a covered area outside in two gallon containers in April in Canby, Oreg. Canby is Zone 8 on the USDA Hardiness map. Temperatures range from a high of 95° F. in August to 32° F. in January. Normal rainfall in Canby is 42.8 inches per year. The color descriptions are all based on The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, 5^(th) edition, 2007.

-   Plant:     -   -   Type.—herbaceous perennial.         -   Form.—clumping.         -   Cold hardiness.—USDA Zone 3 to 9.         -   Foliage size.—grows to 34 cm tall and 70 cm wide.         -   Vigor.—excellent. -   Stem:     -   -   Size.—grows to 35 cm long and 7 mm wide at the base.         -   # Stems.—6.         -   Branching.—basal with stem leaves and terminal and lateral             racemes.         -   Internodes.—4 cm to 7 cm long.         -   Color.—Yellow Green 145B. -   Leaf:     -   -   Type.—pinnately compound with ternately compound leaflets.         -   Arrangement.—alternate.         -   Shape.—broadly ovate to triangular in outline, leaflets             usually obovate.         -   Lobing/division.—leaflets 3 cleft to parted and 2 to 4 lobed             with entire margins, apiculate tips, cuneate bases.         -   Blade size.—grows to 20.5 cm long and 18 cm wide.         -   Venation.—pinnate.         -   Surface texture.—smooth.         -   Petiole description.—grows to 8 cm long and 3 mm wide,             Yellow Green 145C.         -   Leaf color.—young leaves (including veins) top side closest             to Yellow Green N144A, bottom side 147D; older leaves             (including veins) topside closest to Yellow Green N145A,             bottom side 147D. -   Inflorescence:     -   -   Type.—axillary and terminal racemes.         -   Number of flowers.—3 to 12 per raceme, increasing with older             stems.         -   Number of racemes in first spring flush.—12.         -   Size.—grows 0 cm to 3 cm long and to 3.5 cm wide.         -   Peduncle description.—grows 6 cm to 16 cm long and to 3 mm             wide, glabrous, Yellow Green 145B.         -   Pedicel description.—5 mm to 7 mm long, less than 1 mm wide,             Yellow Green 145B.         -   Bloom period.—April to June in Canby, Oreg. -   Flower bud:     -   -   Size.—grow to 20 mm long and 14 mm wide at the widest point             prior to opening.         -   Description.—oblong with the base wider than the tip and             heart-shaped.         -   Color.—White NN155D on heart shaped top, tip White NN155D             with spot Green Yellow 1A. -   Flower:     -   -   Type.—zygomorphic.         -   Corolla description.—pendulous, 22 mm long and 26 mm wide,             heart-shaped on bottom half, laterally compressed, 4 petals             in 2 opposed pairs; outer petal pair pouched at the base             forming the heart shape, reflexed on top ⅓ and cupped at             tip, each 17 mm long and spreading 5 mm wide with reflexed             limb 6 mm long and 3 mm wide, margins entire, tip acute,             glabrous and White NN155D inside and out; inner petal pair             tongue shaped and connected at the tip, 22 mm long (5 mm             extruding) and to 9 mm wide, with convex inner face and             crested apex; margins entire, tip apiculate; inside and             outside glabrous and White NN155D with spot Green Yellow 1A             about 3 mm long and 2 mm wide just above outer petal pair.         -   Calyx description.—2 sepals, scale line, not seen.         -   Pistil description.—one, linear and 19 mm long, Yellow Green             145B, ovary 11 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, style 7 mm long,             stigma is double arrow-shaped, 1 mm wide.         -   Stamen description.—6 in number, compound with 3 partially             fused sections in each inner petal, 21 mm long, filaments 20             mm long and to 1.5 mm wide, White NN155D, anthers 1 mm long,             ovoid, Green Yellow 1D, pollen Yellow 13B.         -   Fragrance.—none.         -   Lastingness.—a raceme blooms for about 4 weeks on the plant.         -   Fruit.—a lanceolate capsule, dehiscent with 2 valves, grows             to 22 mm long and 3.5 mm wide, Yellow Green 145A. -   Seed: arrilate, round, 1.5 mm wide, Black 202A. -   Pest and disease tolerance: The new cultivar is typical to the     genus. No known resistances to pests or diseases. No problems have     been found in Canby, Oreg. 

We claim:
 1. A new and distinct form of Dicentra plant as hereby illustrated and described. 